


The Sea Called To Her

by literaryFRIVOLOUSneophyte



Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types, Les Misérables - Victor Hugo
Genre: Alternate Universe - Creatures & Monsters, Gen, Monsters, Mythical Beings & Creatures
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-25
Updated: 2014-03-25
Packaged: 2018-01-16 23:07:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 387
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1365106
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/literaryFRIVOLOUSneophyte/pseuds/literaryFRIVOLOUSneophyte
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's hard raising a kid so far from home.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Sea Called To Her

**Author's Note:**

> im writing the monster fic i want to see in this fandom. **warning for vomit and generally gross images**  
>  also uh, monster AU and also AU where fantine doesnt have to leave cosette with the thenardiers i guess

The bones of a shipwreck jutted out from the sickly blue skin over her ribs. Fantine hunkered in the bathtub - shivering, coughing, and crying. Her tears came down in wet streaks down her blotchy red face, and the shipwreck in her chest heaved with every breath. The ocean swirled in her throat as it thrashed and spat out salt water through her sobs.

Cosette kneeled against the rim of the tub with a dirty towel in her hand. She wiped the tears from her mother's face and the seaweed off her shoulders. Her eyes were brimming with silent tears, but she blinked them back and carefully smoothed back the hair out of Fantine's face. She didn't understand the convulsions wracking Fantine's body, but she understood the pain and the terror in her mom's eyes. There was nothing else but animal emotions in Fantine's eyes.

The room stunk like fish. From the doorway to the tub, a trail of scales littered the pale yellow, scratched up tile. Slime the color of snot coated the carpet outside the bathroom; it would take days to mop the floor and scrub the green out.

“I'm thirsty,” was the first thing Fantine said. Her hoarse voice, sounding like something that spent too much time with sailors and too much time with deep sea creatures, startled Cosette, who nodded and immediately jumped up.

She returned with a glass of water and brought it to Fantine's lips. Fantine drank greedily, but, as soon as she swallowed it all down, she bent forward and vomited it out. There was some unfamiliar substance mixed in with the bodily fluids, but Cosette looked away before she could see the red.

“I'm sorry, mommy,” Cosette wiped at Fantine's mouth with the towel.

“It's okay, sweetie,” Fantine said. “It's okay, it's okay.”

Fantine shuddered again and started rocking back and forth. The sea called to her, crashing and roaring in her ears. She pinched the bridge of her noise with thin fingers, the long nails scratching her skin, and tried to compose herself for her daughter. She hated it when Cosette saw her like this. If she couldn't handle her callings right now, how would Cosette ever learn how to handle it too?

“I'm sorry,” she whispered.

“It's okay, mommy,” Cosette said.

Fantine shook her head and kept rocking.


End file.
